GRAYLING’S WEEK

What a change, a whole week without some crazy new hair brained scheme for the penal system. This week all we seem to have heard is loads of bluster and spin. Even the appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee was nothing more than the usual old excuses flowing eloquently from the Minister.

I know I am being a little unfair, after all it isn’t Grayling that is the real problem, it is the Senior Mandarins in the Justice Department. Grayling’s only problem is that he seems to be a very poor leader, in fact he appears not to have any control at all over his minions.

The MoJ is a perfect real life example of the old BBC sitcom Yes, Minister which is amusing but which is also tragic because the result, as we can all see is total chaos and disorder in a Ministry which has such a vital part to play in the running of this country.

Prison and penal affairs will by their very nature always be the Cinderella of social services, after all there are no votes in it but the reality I that want happens within the penal system has a profound effect not only on those involved with it but on society as a whole.